Through partnerships and co-created development initiatives, our goal is to support our Malagasy partners in designing and managing conservation projects.
The DLC-SAVA Conservation program uses a multidimensional and transdisciplinary approach to conservation through community-based projects. To protect the forest and all its biodiversity, we aim to empower Malagasy people and organizations to be stewards and achieve their sustainability goals. Below is just a sample of some of our most recent activities.
All of our projects are funded through grants and donations, so your support goes directly to helping people in Madagascar reach their sustainability goals. Please contact us for more information on how you can get involved and support our activities.
Regenerative Agriculture
Most of the people in Madagascar are farmers. In the SAVA region, farmers produce the world’s finest vanilla, as well as cloves and other spices enjoyed around the world. Despite this, farmers struggle to grow enough food to feed their families throughout the year. In addition, traditional practices of subsistence and cash crop farming may be unsustainable in the long-term, leading many farmers to seek alternatives.
Through our agroecology program, almost 2,000 people have benefited by learning diverse regenerative agriculture techniques. With training opportunities centered on community needs, our teams conduct workshops on market vegetable farming, cash crop and food forestry, animal husbandry, the creation of value-added products, and more. We help farmers access value chains for their goods, as well as create farming associations that can lead to new markets. We also work closely with women’s farming groups across the region.
Ecological Food Forestry
Most people in the SAVA region like to have a small backyard garden, and most have rice fields as well as plots for vanilla and clove agroforestry. We are training over 900 farmers in how to combine these currently fragmented practices through ecological intensification: Instead of monocultures in distinct parcels, we’re showing how farmers can combine 20+ crops in a single space. This “food forest” can produce abundance and return ecosystem functions through encouraging biodiversity.
We regenerate soil, control erosion, and bring back biodiversity, while at the same time nurturing resilience for farmers who face challenges like climate change, market volatility, and theft. In a single field, we see vanilla and cloves growing alongside fruit trees, bananas, corn, beans, squash, sweet potatoes, and more. Native plants are interspersed, which have benefits for nature and people.
Green Charcoal with Bamboo
More than 80% of people in Madagascar cook with charcoal or firewood. Charcoal production is a chief cause of deforestation, though sustainable techniques exist. One such example is with bamboo, which can efficiently be transformed to charcoal. We are promoting sustainable harvesting of bamboo, planting diverse species, and creating bamboo charcoal.
Fish Farming
Most of the people living in the remote rural areas of SAVA have insufficient access to nutritious sources of protein. Thus, to meet their dietary needs, many turn to wild sources of meat (bush meat), including endemic and threatened wildlife like lemurs, tenrecs, and birds. To create alternatives, the DLC-SAVA Agroecology Team assists farming associations with installation of more than 50 fish ponds, and provide high quality fish fry including the native and threatened Madagascar cichlid, Paratilapia, and introduced tilapia. The goal of this project is to create a sustainable protein source as well as income generating schemes that will decrease the consumption of bush meat and return native Paratilapia in the region, which are largely going extinct.
Paratilapia are endemic to Madagascar and are threatened with extinction. We use aquaculture not only to create a sustainable protein source, but also to return these native fish to the region.
Chicken Husbandry
Traditionally, most farmers like to raise chickens in Madagascar, but diseases and inadequate diets prevent people from maximizing production. Our team has trained over 700 farmers in the best practices of raising chickens, which include building chicken coops and pens, feeding them a balanced diet, and providing vaccinations, among other things. Not only do farmers receive training; our teams also vaccinate their flocks and help them build coops, and when participants successfully adopt new methods, they receive three hens and a rooster to get their flock started. Even if their chickens die or are stolen, we replace them, because we see how successful some farmers have been, with over 100 chickens produced in just one year! Not only does this provide income for the family through sale of chickens and eggs, but people have plenty of extra chickens for special occasions.
Collaborations with CURSA, the University of the SAVA
DLC-SAVA collaborates with the regional university in the SAVA, known as CURSA (Centre Universitaire Régional de la SAVA). With departments focused on environmental resource management and agronomy, CURSA creates a vibrant and exciting opportunity for students to learn both environmental conservation and regenerative agriculture. CURSA students are engaged in DLC-SAVA research and conservation projects, and our staff supervise their independent research projects. DLC-SAVA co-hosts workshops for CURSA students, including on scientific methods of data analysis and rainforest ecology. Upon completion of workshops, DLC-SAVA creates competitive small grant opportunities for students to conduct research for their honors theses. We mentor students in research and supervise their thesis research.
To learn more about the Lemur Center’s collaboration with CURSA, read our conservation-focused blog posts and the DLC-SAVA newsletters.
Students proudly commemorate their first trip to Marojejy during the CURSA workshop.
Studying about biodiversity and conservation by candlelight until late in the night.
Graduate Scholarships
It is important for Malagasy students to obtain higher education as they enter diverse scientific fields. Access to universities is limited in Madagascar, and DLC-SAVA offers graduate scholarships to support Malagasy students who pursue Ph.D. and master’s degrees. We also support their field research, mentor them to analyze their data and write publications, and cover the expenses of travel and printing their theses. This initiative has supported seven students over the years, and we will continue to create more opportunities moving forward.
The DLC currently supports two CURSA graduates to pursue master’s degrees at the University of Antananarivo.
Collaborations with Duke University
DLC-SAVA collaborates in and facilitates research and development projects by other Duke University departments that work in the SAVA, such as the Duke Global Health Institute, the Nicholas School of the Environment, Evolutionary Anthropology, and the Pratt School of Engineering. By doing so, Duke researchers can provide important data for local entities. For example, researchers from the Duke Global Health Institute have shown that half of people in villages bordering the park have hypertension, and wildlife may have parasites that can spread to farmers. Research collaborations are an excellent way for students to gain hands-on experience with real-world problems.
With Malagasy medical colleagues, Duke Global Health Institute students assist with research on villagers’ health, particularly as it relates to environmental factors such as the effects of land use practices on disease.
Collaborations with Diverse Interest Groups
The Malagasy government ministries are the principle authorities responsible for action, and diverse nongovernment organizations (NGOs) also operate in the SAVA region. We partner closely with the relevant actors; for example, we have collaborative conservation action plans with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and Ministry of Public Health to conduct research and development in the region. With the Ministry of Environment, we conduct landscape restoration efforts, fire management training, and help communities to manage their forests sustainably. With the Ministry of Health, we conduct research on malnutrition and food security, as well as teach about nutrition and how to make nutrient-rich baby porridge from locally available materials. We joined a multinational Cluster for Nutrition through the National Office of Nutrition to network with actors like UNICEF and WHO. We also partner directly with the Ministry of Health to deliver women’s reproductive health services, reaching more than 30 communities.
We are co-creating plans with NGOs, like Graine de Vie, and private interest groups for place-based conservation. Over the years, we’ve collaborated with the Madagascar National Parks, contributing to park infrastructure like boundary delimitation, environmental outreach, as well as assisting the park staff in their conservation mission.
We are fortunate to partner with local talent organizations for environmental outreach campaigns. Antalenta and Mafoka Band are local artists who produce music, spoken word poetry, and marionette skits that teach about the environment and lemurs in fun, engaging ways. People are always amazed and have fun watching the puppet show and learning about lemurs. Supporting these groups also increases their visibility and creates opportunities for them to perform in front of government, nongovernment, and civil society organizations.
Research
DLC-SAVA supports and carries out biodiversity research, including surveys in remote rainforests to document the diversity of species and to determine the conservation priorities in the region. We are also investigating social and agricultural links with public health in rural farming communities, interviewing over 1,000 farmers about how they feel landcover and climate change are impacting their agriculture, economy, and health. In the past, we hosted researchers focused on lemurs, environmental knowledge among school children, and the use of fuel-efficient cook stoves. We collaborate with scientists from Duke University and elsewhere. In our research, we engage and train Malagasy students as much as possible. Read more about our research here.
More Information
More information and photos of DLC-SAVA activities can be found in our newsletter archive and on our video page.
Support Our Work
Please make a contribution today to support SAVA Conservation. 100% of funds for the DLC’s Madagascar Conservation Programs come from donors and grants. Thank you!
